Troy WeaverAssistant general manager, Oklahoma City ThunderProbably the buzziest young name looking for a first shot at a GM job after Philadelphia hired Houston assistant GM Sam Hinkie, Weaver has been Sam Presti’s right-hand man in Oklahoma City. Weaver famously recruited Carmelo Anthony at Syracuse University, before going to Utah as a scout and director of player personnel. Weaver has been in Oklahoma City since 2008, and is believed to have turned down an offer to run the Jazz last summer. Weaver’s hiring would be a well-regarded move around the league, although he has no track record as a head decision maker

Ed StefanskiExecutive vice-president of basketball operations, Toronto RaptorsIt seems very unlikely that Tim Leiweke would make a break with the old era by hiring Colangelo’s top lieutenant. But Stefanski a) has a history of running his old team, serving as the general manager of both New jersey and Philadelphia; and b) challenged Colangelo frequently during his time in Toronto. If he were in charge, it is unlikely Andrea Bargnani would still be a Raptor, for starters. Leiweke confirmed that Stefanski is a candidate for the job.

Masai UjiriGeneral manager, Denver NuggetsThe reigning league executive of the year, Ujiri served under Colangelo as the Raptors’ director of director of global scouting and then assistant general manager. He took over the Nuggets in 2010, and handled the trade of Carmelo Anthony, who wanted out of Denver, deftly. He also signed Aaron Afflalo and Nene to expensive contract extensions and traded them in short order, something that might be necessary with the Raptors, given their surplus of long-term commitments to players. Despite his relationship with Colangelo, he reportedly disagreed often with the Raptors GM, just as Stefanski did, while working under him. Ujiri is not under contract with the Nuggets for next season.

Tommy SheppardVice-president of basketball administration, Washington WizardsOn the surface, an executive with the Wizards, a franchise in a very similar place to the Raptors, is odd. It certainly would not be a sexy hire. But Sheppard shares a long-standing relationship with Leiweke, serving as Denver’s director of team services and player relations dating back to when Leiweke was an executive with the team. Sheppard was also involved with statistical analysis at the NBA level with Washington, making him a candidate to embrace some of the ways in which the league is changing.

Kevin PritchardGeneral manager, Indiana PacersPritchard is most famous for his tenure in Portland. He was forced out in a power struggled in 2010. It appeared Pritchard was in the midst of building a consistent contender in Portland, until injuries to Greg Oden and Brandon Roy derailed that plan. Pritchard is most renowned for his drafting — he selected rotation players Rudy Fernandez and Nicolas Batum near the end of the first round of the draft and has also found useful players in the second round. And the Raptors have pointed to Indiana as something of a model for turning a core without a superstar into a very good team. Pritchard works closely with president Donny Walsh with the Pacers.

Mike ZarrenAssistant general manager, Boston CelticsIf hired, Zarren would become the second Celtics executive to work his way up from a low position in that organization to take over another one this off-season, following Ryan McDonough’s ascent from video coordinator to Phoenix GM. Zarren started with the Celtics 10 years ago as an unpaid intern, and has since become one of the more renowned executives focusing on advanced data analysis in the league. Whether that would be enough to catch Leiweke’s eye is uncertain; Zarren certainly does not come with a big name.

Pritchard is still at the top of my list, with Uriji second and Weaver a close third. Pritchard did an unbelieveable job rebuilding the Blazers. The heist he pulled off to get both Roy and Aldridge in the same draft with genius trades, and then Fernandez and Batum late in other drafts just shows he knows how to build a team the right way and is creative enough to pull off trades like these, and find gems late in the draft. He'd still be their GM if Paul Allen didn't hate him outside of the job. If POR was healthy, they would have won at least one title by now.

Pritchard is still at the top of my list, with Uriji second and Weaver a close third. Pritchard did an unbelieveable job rebuilding the Blazers. The heist he pulled off to get both Roy and Aldridge in the same draft with genius trades, and then Fernandez and Batum late in other drafts just shows he knows how to build a team the right way and is creative enough to pull off trades like these, and find gems late in the draft. He'd still be their GM if Paul Allen didn't hate him outside of the job. If POR was healthy, they would have won at least one title by now.

Is it likely that the Raptors were refused permission to talk to Pritchard because Indy is still in the playoffs?

hopefully we use our draft pick this year, let's
not miss out this years Rodney hood

Senior Member

Join Date: Jan 2009

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im really down on kevin pritchard, just look at the facts in indiania all the players they have onthere team right now are from the larry bird era, also they use to have a deep bench now what bench do they have

all pritchard had to do is add some depth, well that depth they don't have is going to get them crushed against the heat

he had one of the easiest jobs in the nba this year all he had to do is bring in some vets

bc could do that job in his sleep, so where going to demote bc to hire pritchard who isn't even as good as bc doubt that

masai uriji is the guy on top of my list look at the depth they have its really incredible, the only guy thats worth geting besides bc in my eyes is uriji

i dont like anyone from this list besides masai, i'm really big fan of the warriors gm bob myers he seems to be like bryan colangelo on steriods, hes got that bc personality but he geeks out like morrey in houston best of both worlds